STC chapter 21

“Mmm… Mmm.”

I had told him to take my temperature, but I had no idea why he was fumbling with my lips. My eyes, which had been half-closed from the cold, snapped open.

When I looked up at Ye Ilhu, he stared back at me with indifferent eyes, contrasting his gentle touch.

“I can’t really tell with your forehead or cheeks.”

I was about to tell him to remove his hand when he pressed my lips more firmly. His usually emotionless gray eyes momentarily showed an indescribable glint.

“Did you know? In the past, people used to measure their temperature by holding a thermometer in their mouths.”

His words were perplexing. I widened my eyes while awkwardly letting him hold my face.

Ye Ilhu’s eyes twitched as he gazed down at me. Then, as if gauging something, his thumb, which had been rubbing my lips, slipped inside my mouth without hesitation.

“Ah!”

Startled, I instinctively bit down on his long, beautiful finger. Instead of pulling it out, he pushed it further in. Shocked by his force, I loosened my jaw.

Everything happened in an instant. What was he doing?

His firm fingertips prodded my tongue and the insides of my hot cheeks as if inspecting them, then his nail lightly scratched the roof of my mouth.

“Ah, ugh!”

The sudden, sensitive stimulus, which I never experienced before, sent a tingling sensation up my spine to my head.

“Ahh!”

I shook my head, signaling him to stop. But Ye Ilhu, with a deepening gaze, persistently observed my changing expressions.

The feeling of him continuously rubbing and scratching the roof of my mouth was strange. For some reason, my toes curled tightly inside my shoes.

When I tried to pull my head back, Ye Ilhu followed, giving me no chance to escape. He used his other hand to hold the back of my head firmly.

“You were coaxing me to touch you more, so why are you backing off now? Stay still, I’m taking your temperature just as you said.”

“Sigh… That… that’s…”

His usually composed voice was filled with excitement. With my mouth open and the inside thoroughly explored, unswallowed saliva dribbled down my chin.

‘This is weird.’

I knew he was rough, but I never thought he’d act this crazy. How could this be considered taking my temperature? What was the point of this?

Clutching his wrist, I shook my head vigorously. I thought about using my power, but I hesitated, worried that my SS-rank strength might seriously hurt him.

My power could break the floor with a single punch. If I lost control in my excitement, I might crush his wrist.

Reluctantly, I bit down hard on the fingers probing my mouth, applying more pressure than before to convey my will. Finally, Ye Ilhu, showing a hint of pain, withdrew his fingers.

“Haa, haa…”

I quickly wiped the drool from my chin with the back of my hand and retreated. Then, I glared at him without blinking.

‘What kind of lunatic is this?!’

But he didn’t care whether I glared at him or not. Staring intently at his red-marked index and middle fingers, he casually pulled out a wet wipe from the bedside table and wiped his saliva-soaked fingers.

His indifferent behavior ignited my anger, making me raise my voice.

“What the hell were you just…!”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. I suddenly realized we were in the infirmary.

I didn’t know what Ye Ilhu’s actions meant, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be good if someone else saw us.

Startled, I looked at the door. A large man peeked his head in.

“…Is Baram here?”

It was Chae Goya, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. His face still bore a mix of somberness and youthful innocence.

Seeing a familiar face, my sharp nerves instantly calmed as if cold water had been poured over them.

“Goya!”

I unconsciously called out in a voice full of joy. It felt like a family reunion.

“I’m here too.”

Pushing Chae Goya aside, Ryu Min also appeared. Both were tall, but Chae Goya’s larger frame had hidden Ryu Min.

“Vice Guild… I mean, Hunter Ryu Min!”

Remembering his request not to keep distance, I quickly corrected myself. Ryu Min smiled with satisfaction.

Having been in a confined space with a lunatic, seeing others made me overly glad.

I glanced at Ye Ilhu. He was quietly observing the new arrivals with displeased eyes. Ignoring him, I jumped out of bed and ran to them.

“What brings you both here when you’re so busy?”

It was an indirect way of asking them to stay with me until he left.

Chae Goya, not expecting such a welcome, looked touched. He held my hand gently, as if handling a delicate glass object.

“I heard you collapsed during training. I wanted to come sooner, but I was at a gate… Are you feeling better now?”

“Baram, let me see.”

Ryu Min touched my forehead and smiled.

“Luckily, it seems you don’t have a fever.”

Unlike a certain someone, he used a normal method to check. Remembering the sensation of Ye Ilhu’s hand probing my mouth, I shook my head internally.

It seemed I was quite shocked by someone touching my palate for the first time.

“Why… did you collapse?”

“I haven’t asked anyone here yet since the infirmary was empty, but it seems like a cold.”

It really seemed like my fever had gone down quickly as Ryu Min said. When the system window appeared earlier, I had been feverish and in pain, barely able to move.

‘It must be because of that necessity thing.’

Though Ye Ilhu’s method was bizarre, I had made deep contact with him and now I was with Ryu Min and Chae Goya. According to the system, being with them helped me recover.

‘I need to talk to the system window again.’

There were still many things I didn’t understand.

If this was ‘Love War,’ why was I the main player in a game that had ended? To avoid dying again, I needed to know what to do.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Realizing I had been absent-mindedly fiddling with Chae Goya’s hand, I let go. His face, red to the tips of his ears, looked like it would burst if pricked.

“To think that I avoided someone who liked me so openly, I was really being too mean.”

Of course, to survive, I had to inevitably face Chae Goya, Ryu Min, and Ye Ilhu in the future, but aside from that, I felt sorry for Chae Goya and Ryu Min.

It was because I knew well that they had been looking for me on purpose.

With a heart full of apologies and gratitude, I slightly lifted the corners of my mouth.

“Thank you both for coming despite being busy.”

Hearing my thanks, the expressions on their faces gradually brightened.

‘Ah.’

Seeing their radiant faces, I finally realized that my place in this world, where I had struggled to form attachments, had expanded.

* * *

After a commotion, the doctor finally returned to diagnose me.

Beside me, SS-rank hunter Ye Ilhu, Vice Guild Master Ryu Min, and guild master’s brother Chae Goya alternated between glaring at me and the doctor.

The doctor, seemingly burdened by the intense stares, broke out in a sweat.

[It’s strange. Until a while ago, your condition was bad enough to require hospitalization, but now you’ve completely recovered.]

Facing the four bewildered people, I, the only one who knew the reason, gave an awkward smile.

I mentioned I had been very tired lately, but the doctor still seemed unconvinced. However, since it was an inexplicable phenomenon with his knowledge, he said nothing more.

Since there were no more issues, I no longer needed to stay in the infirmary. I returned to my lodging, heavily guarded by the three. Their gazes stuck to me so persistently that my face grew hot.

Ye Ilhu generously permitted me to skip training tomorrow, to which I agreed and entered my room. Though it had only been half a day since I left, I had missed it dearly.

Alone, various thoughts surfaced. Among them, the most recurring thought was about the system window.

The only entity aware of this world. Whether it was a god or a divine messenger, I had to converse with the system window again.

‘But I have no idea how to summon it.’

As I pondered, a fantasy novel I had read long ago flashed in my mind.

In such transmigration stories, usually, if you mentally shout ‘status window!’ something would appear.

Thinking there was nothing to lose, I quietly mumbled while lying on my bed.

“System window…!”

Even though I boldly shouted, risking embarrassment, nothing changed.

“Hey.”

Scratching my neck awkwardly, I sat up. I should just wash up and sleep. It had been an excessively tiring and long day.

But just as I was about to lift my head, something fell onto the bed with a crackling sound.

“Ugh!”